#1 - Nov. 21, 2013, 1:56 a.m.
Hog and I figured it would be a good idea to consolidate all the information under one post to help keep everyone informed regardless if they just bought the game, or had an odd question and needed to track it down.
The first thing we recommend to everyone is to play the game for 30 minutes or more. Get a feel for things, try a couple of classes out, and gain a few levels. This will make this post a lot easier to follow as you will have at least some basic understanding of what we’re referencing.
We’ll start with some basic info about the game that you might not notice at first to get things rolling. Next up is the move to intermediate level knowledge to help you get more from the game. Then we move on to advanced/end game details to show you what you’ll want to be doing once you’re level 60.
1. The Basics
a. Basic Stats
There are 4 basic character stats: Dexterity (Dex), Strength (Str), Vitality (Vit), and Intelligence (Int).
Each point of a stat does the following:
We made a video that covers this info with some more in depth info as well:
b. Loot System
This is an important section. On the PC, you get more drops of less quality and with random stats. This was to encourage people to make use of the Auction House. By having more loot to offload, and good loot that you can’t actually use on your character, you were more likely to want to sell that loot and more likely to need to buy loot to suit your character.
Since the Auction House does not exist on the Consoles, they had to do something different. So it was decided to drop less loot, raise the gold drop amounts, raise the overall quality of the items that do drop, and make the items that drop have your character’s primary stat.
What this translates to is less junk items to sell, offset with more gold dropped, and the drops that do come, you’re more likely to be able to use. The system is not without flaws, but it would be a lot worse if we were stuck with the original system. The PC’s Auction House is going away, and they’re moving to the loot system the Console has been using since it’s launch.
Loot quality is color coded from worst to best:
c. Inventory & Inventory Management
Now you’ve got your character going, and you’re looting things. Good good, now what do you do with all that stuff?
When you pick things up, you’ll notice the left side of the screen near the bottom the item name and some upwards and/or downwards arrows. Those arrows are generalized indications of if it’s going to increase your offense, defense, and life. Early on, you can pretty much blindly go by those arrows. We suggest paying attention to the info on the items though, so you can see WHY it increases or decreases your damage, life, etc.
There is a “quick equip” feature, but I’ve not found it all that useful. I like to see the items’ stats before I equip them. To do this, hit the back button and pull up your inventory. Your total inventory is split up between the slot they can be equipped in. If there is an item you haven’t looked at, that slot will have a gold ring around it. you can compare stats from there and decide if you want to change to the new item, or stick with the old.
If you decide you don’t want the item, make use of the Junk system by highlighting the item and clicking down the right stick (XBOX). This will mark the item as Junk, which is handy when you go to the blacksmith or a merchant, as you can then bulk sell at the merchant for gold, or bulk salvage at the blacksmith for crafting materials. Of note, only purple and better quality can be salvaged. See the crafting section for more info regarding salvaging.
Let’s say you like the item, but don’t want to use it right now. you can hang on to it, but it takes up space in your inventory. You’re limited to carrying 60 items so you may not want to carry around everything. You also might want to give things to a different character of yours.
In each town you operate out of, you’ll find your “stash”. It looks like a large trunk or chest and can be first seen right next to the Inn in New Tristram. Your stash has a finite size and you can upgrade it via gold to a total of 210 slots. The stash is shared across all characters on your account, so it's a handy way to give things to an alt, hold on to things for later, or just to make room on your character.
We cover all this in our Inventory & Inventory Management video:
2. Intermediate
a. Options Menu
You’ve gained some more skills now, and you’re starting to figure out what ones you like and don’t like, but if you’re like Hog and I were, you want more info and more options. Just so happens there are menu options disabled by default that will help you out.
Pause the game, go to the Options, and from there select the Gameplay section. Most of these will be self explanatory, but there are a few that should be noticed.
b. Advanced Stats
When you bring up your inventory, you’ll see a button listed at the bottom for “character details”. In that subscreen, you’ll see all the in-depth details about your character. Your core stats, how those affect things, other stats like Attacks per second, Critical hit chance, Critical hit damage, etc. Scroll through them and take a look. The details about each item are in the black box on the bottom left.
Once you get the hang of things, and as you progress through the different game levels, you’ll want to make sure to pay attention to more than just your core stats. Here’s a few you’ll want to follow:
Here's me talking about the advanced stats and showing off weapon speed differences:
